Archive for strobes

The Water Logged Alien Bee Zombie Lights: by Ryan Armbrust

A few days ago, I set off to snap a senior portrait session at a football field. The guy I was shooting is a football player, so it seemed like a fantastic idea. We had keys and permission to use the field. I packed up my trusty Alien Bee 800’s as well as a battery pack to power them, some grids and the rest of my camera gear and headed to the field. When we arrived, I quickly found the shot I wanted. I would place him in front of the score board right at sunset. I set my lights up and popped off a couple test shots. I wanted to get everything in place so I would not be rushed at sunset. I wanted that nice cobalt blue sky that last about 10 minutes. After everything was set up, we headed to the other end zone to grab some natural light shots.

AS SOON AS WE GOT TO THE OTHER END OF THE FIELD, THE SPRINKLERS CAME ON!

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How To Alter Colors During a Photo Shoot: by Guy Van Hooveld

My experience with corporate shoots is that sometimes, the environment is not exactly like the customer has described it, or does not really provides the kind of colors or light allowing to deliver the message you need. That is the reason why I use equipment to modify the look of a specific scene during the photo shoot. Some coloring is of course always possible in post production, but I am not a Photoshop freak, and I prefer to get the results right the first time, and to minimize post production.

First Example

This example was a shooting session in a control center. A few pictures were expected for a press file, showing the “hi-tech” look of the dispatching center. When I arrived on location, I was impressed by the “clean” aspect of the room, a bit like a hospital. I decided to use color filters on strobes to give a more dramatic aspect to the pictures. After some tests I decided to go for dark blue, to give a “night” impression.

Let’s just follow the different steps:

Just for information, the used equipment was:

  • Nikon D3 camera with 24-70 2.8 lens on a tripod with hydrostatic head
  • Radio controlled shutter
  • Radio controlled strobes
  • 600Ws Strobes with color filter and barn doors, with digital energy selection
  • Lightmeter to determine exposure

A first picture to show the environment as it was

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